In the wake of Judge Roger Vinson's decision striking down the Affordable Care Act, legal scholars and policy experts from across the political spectrum have dissected the ruling — and rejected it wholesale. Both conservative and liberal legal experts find Vinson's interpretation of the Constitution and disregard for precedent unconvincing, while wonks hear echoes of Bush v. Gore in his 'just-this-once tone,' and see Vinson's GOP background in his unabashed shout-outs to the Tea Party and right-wing Family Research Council.

On December 13, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson ruled that a key provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring individuals to own health insurance is unconstitutional. However, even conservative legal scholars have identified major defects in Hudson's opinion, leaving many to question whether the judge was actually motivated by politics. In fact, Hudson credited "twenty years of active service to the Republican party" with helping him land a federal judgeship. Perhaps more important than partisan loyalty, though, is Hudson's lifelong drive for the spotlight. In his 2007 memoir, Quest for Justice, Hudson chronicles his path from the commonwealth's attorney's office to the bench, including detours in electoral politics and the entertainment industry. Throughout the book, he boasts of his ability to generate media coverage; describes relationships with celebrities in Washington and Hollywood; and recalls the boredom of legal work removed from the public eye. ("Perhaps it was ego," he remarks.) At one point, Hudson acknowledges that he was gunning for "a full-time gig as a network legal commentator." Hudson ultimately accepted that he "was never going to make it big in the broadcasting field," but he never lost his appetite for attention. And, if his ruling against President Obama's landmark health care law stands, Hudson might have finally completed his lifelong quest for glory.

On Meet the Press, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) accused the Obama administration of coddling terrorists when in fact we have killed nearly 30 Taliban and al Qaeda leaders since the president took office, and military commissions have produced weaker results than did the much-discussed civilian trial of Ahmed Ghailani last week. Jindal rounded out his performance by dipping into dishonest right-wing rhetoric about Obama seeking to "apologize for America." Meanwhile, on Fox News Sunday, another southern Republican governor told some very different tall tales. Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) repeated his claim that Social Security amounts to "a Ponzi scheme," and when host Chris Wallace pointed out the basic dishonesty of Perry's rhetoric — far from a massive fraud, Social Security is a long-successful and honest system that is in some long-term trouble because of changing demographics — Perry smiled and claimed Wallace had just proven the program is a criminal enterprise.

In a "policy paper" titled "Vacuity, Farce, and the Kagan Hearings," the Senate Republican Policy Committee (RPC) attacked Solicitor General Elena Kagan with a series of debunked myths, falsehoods, and distortions.